Cost of living comparison

Ghana

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Ghana Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 70.6% more expensive than Ghana overall.

Restaurants: pay 97.8% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 15.0% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 63.3% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 68.7% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 83.4% more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.8% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 2.5 times more in South Africa

The cost of clothing, restaurants, childcare, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports in South Africa are more expensive than in Ghana. Notably, clothing, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in South Africa.

South Africa vs. Ghana Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Ghana, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 97.8% more for restaurants

	Ghana	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.70 GHS57.31	$8.97 ZAR164.10	+142.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.51 GHS85.39	$4.77 ZAR87.25	-13.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 GHS9.21	$0.95 ZAR17.46	+60.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.25 GHS3.81	$0.74 ZAR13.55	+201.3%
Average			+97.8%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.0% less for groceries

	Ghana	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.52 GHS23.58	$0.99 ZAR18.12	-34.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.18 GHS49.25	$3.67 ZAR67.22	+15.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.96 GHS138.90	$4.20 ZAR76.79	-53.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.21 GHS34.18	$2.23 ZAR40.73	+1.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 GHS32.23	$2.03 ZAR37.10	-2.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.01 GHS15.67	$0.68 ZAR12.38	-33.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 GHS7.50	$0.62 ZAR11.29	+27.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.59 GHS9.21	$0.64 ZAR11.74	+8.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 GHS16.13	$0.70 ZAR12.78	-32.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.98 GHS15.18	$0.55 ZAR10.13	-43.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.73 GHS11.36	$0.61 ZAR11.13	-16.9%
Average			-15.0%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 63.3% more for transportation

	Ghana	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.23 GHS65.59	$4.99 ZAR91.24	+17.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.38 GHS408.91	$52.31 ZAR956.77	+98.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,000.00 GHS123,998.94	$20,607.77 ZAR376,916.06	+157.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.74 GHS166.44	$8.55 ZAR156.36	-20.4%
Average			+63.3%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 68.7% more for housing

	Ghana	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.21 GHS669.76	$41.37 ZAR756.65	-4.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$627.15 GHS9,720.70	$382.55 ZAR6,996.91	-39.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$112.15 GHS1,738.35	$326.35 ZAR5,968.89	+191.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$35.41 GHS548.89	$80.40 ZAR1,470.48	+127.0%
Average			+68.7%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 83.4% more for childcare

	Ghana	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$57.02 GHS883.73	$174.12 ZAR3,184.59	+205.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,571.37 GHS101,855.32	$4,033.53 ZAR73,773.21	-38.6%
Average			+83.4%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ghana	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 GHS14.69	$2.11 ZAR38.55	+122.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.69 GHS26.12	$1.88 ZAR34.44	+11.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.20 GHS18.55	$2.90 ZAR53.12	+142.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.36 GHS501.52	$29.50 ZAR539.56	-8.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.33 GHS144.63	$6.62 ZAR121.10	-29.0%
Average			+47.8%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.5 times more for clothing

	Ghana	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.87 GHS230.56	$47.72 ZAR872.71	+220.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.10 GHS311.58	$32.06 ZAR586.36	+59.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$32.71 GHS506.96	$90.39 ZAR1,653.21	+176.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$34.57 GHS535.77	$81.37 ZAR1,488.20	+135.4%
Average			+148.0%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: March 2025

More cost comparisons

Ghana vs.

Greece

Ghana vs.

Peru

Ghana vs.

Austria

Ghana vs.

Thailand

Ghana vs.

Poland

Ghana vs.

China

Ghana vs.

Canada

Ghana vs.

Australia

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Accra vs. Pretoria

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Ghana

Add prices for South Africa

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about South Africa or Ghana. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.